Improvement in sectional boilers



1 UNITED STATES PATENT FFIG.

1 ERASTUS M. TUCKER, 0E FAIRFAX C. H.,vA., AssICNoR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO GEORGE TUCKER, OF WASHINGTON, D. C.

IMPROVEMENT IN SECTIONAL BOILERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 173,375, dated February 8, 1876; application filed November 8, 1875. 1

'To all whom t'tmay concern.- the steam-drum B, and similarly communicat- Be it known that I, ERASTUS- M. TUCKER,

of Fairfax 0. EL, in the county of Fairfax'and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam -Gener-.

ato'rs, and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact; description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. end elevation. 1 Similar letters of reference in the accompanying drawings denote the same'parts.

The object of my invention is threefold, viz first, to enable steam-generators to make steam more readily and in greater quantities than heretofore; secondly, to enable them to be in:

1 creased or reduced in size'or capacity, as may be desired; and, thirdly, to enable the heating-pipes to be readily remoi ed and replaced when necessary'to clean or repair them; and

tothese ends the invention consists in the construction and combination'of steam-chest,

boiler-sections, and heating and circulating pipes, substantially as I will now proceed to.

set forth.

In the drawings, A represents a vertical tubular stand-pipe or water-boiler, preferably made of boiler-iron, having its lower end cldsed and its upper end open, and connected with a suitable injector or feed-water pump,

. from which it receives the water at or near of the boiler A by means of suitable connections 0 e, to which they are bolted, and through which they have free communication with the boiler. F F F F are corresponding crosspipes, similarly attached to the under side of ing with the interior thereof. u o w are a series-of small water-pipes extending from each cross pipe of the boiler to each. corresponding crosspipe ot' the steam-drum, so that the water can pass from the boiler A through the cross-pipes E E E E into the pipes 20 v w, and be therein subjected to the full heatingpower of the furnace; after which the heated water and the steam formed in said small pipes escape into the steam-drum B, the water passing back into the upper end of the boiler at I), and the steam filling the upper part of the steamdrum and also the pipes U D. I prefer to arrange the pipes u o w as shown, namely, the pipe u extending from the upper side of-the cross-pipe E, 860., to the inner or upper side of the cross-pipe F, &c., the pipe 20 extending from the under side of the cross-pipe E, 8220., to the outer or upper side of the cross-pipe F, 850., and the pipe 12 extending from the inner side of the cross-pipe E, 850., to the under side of the cross-pipe F, &c., although this particular arrangement of said pipes to 'v w is not an essential feature of the invention, andgone or even two of them might, perhaps, be omitted without destroying the practical usefulness of the generator. Three pipes, to o 20, however, constitute a full set, and are arranged one over the other in a vertical plane.

Only one set of these pipes is shown in the drawings as connected to each cross-pipe E F, &o;,"but as many sets, of three each, may be arranged along side of each other and connected to the crosspipes as the length of the cross-pipes will accommodate. Each pipe u e or w may be made in sections, if preferred, and may be secured to its appropriate crosspipes in any suitable manner. For convenience of inserting and removing said small pipes, I prefer to make'them each of two sections, united at the angle tby means of an elbow or other coupling, which is attached to them by a right and left screw. The lower section of these pipes may be arranged horizontally, and the upper section vertically, or

any inclination may be given them that may,

for any reason, be considered best under the circumstances. The upright boilers A form the front of the steam boiler or generator. The fire-chamberof the furnace occupies the space behind the upright boiler-pipes A, and beneath the horizontal steam-drums B. The boiler should normally be filled with water about up to the bottom of the'steam-drummr,

if preferred, it may rise into the steam-drum.

far enough to 'flow back through it into the top of the boiler-pipes, as above stated. The

bottom of the steam-drum and the upper end of the boilers should be protected from the full heat of the furnace, so as not to burn out under any circumstances, and thus endanger their safety. All the joints must, of course, be suitably packed, and the parts must be made of the strong and durable materials usually employed for similar purposes. Each upright boiler A and connected horizontal steamdrum B, with its collar 0, steam-pipe D, and series of cross-pipes E F, and heating and circulating pipes u o to, constitute a section of my steam-generator. As many of these sections may be used to make up one steam-boiler or generator as may under any given circumstances be desired, according to the power or steam capacity required. In a generator composed of two or more sections, as shown in Fig. 2, the steam communication from one section to the others is effected by uniting the proximateends of the pipes D D of the several sections, (the heads having'first been removed,) which secures an equilibrium of steam-pressure throughout the generator. No water communication fromone section to another is necessary, but each section has an'independent and complete water-system of its own. The lower ends of tlie boiler-pipes A, may, however, communicate with each other by suitable pipes, to prevent multiplying injectors, and to secure an equilibrium in the height of the water in the several sections, if preferred.

When two or more sections are used witha single furnace the betterway will ordinarily be to arrange them side by side, but when used with two or more furnaces they may be arranged in any convenient manner, and the pi pesD may be curved or connected byelbows, if necessary. The feed-water.n1ay be either cold or heated by the exhaust steam, or by passing through a hollow fire-grate, or through the heating-pipes, as desired.

The operation and advantages of this improved steam-boiler will be readily understood from what has been already stated. It will be seen that the sections can be prepared beforehand by the manufacturer, and, when an order is received from a purchaser, they can be put together to make a boiler of any size and capacity that may be required, ready for delivery without delay; that a boiler already in use may be enlarged or diminished in size and capacity whenever desired; and that, should any section get out of order, it can easily be removed by separating its collar 0, which is made in two parts for that purpose, and closing up the open end by means of a suitable head, after which the remainder of the boiler can continue in use until the defective section is repaired andconnected again. It will also be seen that any one of the heating-pipes u o w, if out of order, may be readily removed and repaired, or a new one substituted. The boiler makes steam very quickly and freely, as the heating-pipes are subjected to the full and direct action of the fire, and are so arranged as to keep the water constantly circulating into and out of the vertical tubes A A. When the water is not high enough to flow back through the steam-drum it will leave the boiler-pipes A, through the lower sets of pipes at w, and return through the upper sets, thus keeping up the circulation effectively, whatever may be the amountof water in the boiler. This circulation insures the uniform heating of the water, and protects the heating-pipes from destruction by the fire, in addition to its effects in facilitating the formation of steam, as above described.

The construction of the generator allows the parts to expand and contract without injury, and the whole arrangement most effectually secures the apparatus from danger of explosion. If one of the heating-pipes should at any time give way-and, with an overpressure of steam they will give way before any other part in consequence of their more direct exposure to the destructive action of the fireit will only blow out the ashes and coals, and put out the fire, without any serious danger to the persons around.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new 1. The combination of the vertical boilerpipe A, horizontal steam-chest B, and series of cross-pipes E E F F, 860., connected by the heatin g-pipes m; w, arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A steam-generator, made up of different sections, .each composed of the parts A B O E F u o w, said sections being connected by a common steam-pipe, D, substantially as de scribed, for the purposes specified.

ERASTUS M. TUCKER. 

